What Adichie Means to Me

 For this reflection, I am going to write about how some of these suggestions manifest in my own life, and why I believe Adichie decided to include them in her book. 

Firstly, be a full person. I believe this is important for many reasons, most specifically the one Adichie laid out in her writing. So often women are put into the box of motherhood when they are not just that. While I believe that being a stay-at-home mom is a career, and does not necessarily put women in a box, that is not how I grew up. In fact, I was surrounded by women who were more than ‘just mothers’. (Also, side note, we say ‘just mothers’ as if it’s easy or not fulfilling when that is not the case). My mom worked full-time as a teacher my entire childhood and was the woman who raised me primarily. She held multiple hats and honestly made it look easier. I was also raised by a babysitter, Laura, and her four daughters, who are much more like cousins to me now. Laura has held several careers in her life- a nurse, a mom, a foster mom, someone who rented out houses she and her husband had purchased, and a babysitter. All of her daughters went on to do jobs and two of the four have children and still work full-time. Again, none of this is a necessity, but I grew up around strong women who did it all, and I have never doubted for a second that I would not be able to do all of that and more. 

To talk about my mom again, she introduced me to books and taught me how to love them. My mom loves to say that she is an educator, but I have told her at some point she needs to put 'actor' on her resume as well because so much of what makes her a great educator is her ability to perform. Her ability to perform shines through with books. Most notably, my mom read me all seven Harry Potter books out loud, and each character had their own distinctive voice. She has never stopped encouraging me to read and will continue to promote books for all they encourage- the good, the bad, and the ugly. I believe this manifestation made its way into the book because while it is understood as important, reading books isn’t talked about a lot. The overall themes and knowledge books can teach you is probably almost infinite. 

This time it’s my mom and grandma(s), and they taught me about differences. Recently I took it upon myself to thank my mom and grandmas for allowing my sister and me to experience a lot from a young age, most of which included introducing us to art, festivals, reading, and theater of all cultures and backgrounds. I grew up in predominantly white middle- to upper-middle-class community, meaning I lived in a bubble. My mom and grandmas could have taken this and left it, but instead sought out opportunities to allow my sister and me to learn. From a young age we learned that people are different, but at the root of it, we are all human. But differences make us special, and those things should be celebrated.  I told my mom that I believed this has always given me so much perspective and knowledge, that my peers never had. For similar reasons, I believe this is why it made the book. Expose children to as much as they can, they are the most willing to learn.